On Creativity

|| WORD || Creativity isn’t just about innovating or making art — it’s about living creatively. We can approach any situation in life with a creative spirit. We all have the capacity to dream, explore, discover, build, ask questions, and seek answers — in other words, to be creators. ~ Carolyn Gregorie

From a 1985 study in which they asked philosophers, physicists, artists, businesspeople, and lay persons to identify the essential aspects of a highly creative person. Some of the key traits are listed below:

1. Tries to do what others think is impossible
2. Is a non-conformist
3. Is unorthodox
4. Questions societal norms, truisms, and assumptions
5. Is willing to take a stand
6. Is willing to take risks and is willing to follow through on the consequences of those risks
7. One who steers clear of the pitfalls of conventional ways of thinking
8. Never automatically accepts the accepted
9. Questions the basic assumptions upon which we operate
10. Willing to generate and promote ideas that are novel and even strange and out of fashion

The common thread in all the answers was the idea that creative people reject popular, conventional ways of thinking, and instead seek out and support new and unconventional ideas.

How can you purposely embrace a creative way of living?
How might you play with ambiguities and connect the dots in a way that you’ve never connected before?